I have two young children, 2 GSDs, 15 hens, and a cat. For me, my personal limit is two dogs. Obviously my human children come first and foremost in my life, no questions. But within the peking order of the animals we own, the dogs are at the top. The hens are fairly self sustaining and require little interaction from me. The cat is a complete jerk. But he lived here first so I owe him at least a decent home and food. lol

At two dogs, I feel like I can give them what they need, physically and mentally, and at the same time still (just about) keep a tidy house, cook good food for the family, etc. Any more than that, and I would really struggle, because I love my dogs and I think it would be too easy for me to get unbalanced in my life if I had more. But that is just me.

I have 3 gsds - 2 males and one female- they are a handful but well trained and behaved- a lot of work- house is cleaned twice a week- no freedom to travel - can not just have any dog walker come in- at times I wish I had none but then I would get a 4th if wife would say yes. I am retired and guess they are my hobby- 3 hours of attention per day.

It is kind of sad when someone has to specify they have four human children because these days you just don't know whether people talk about human or dog children.

That is why my dogs will be my dogs and not "children" because children are human, period!

Well my dogs will be the closest thing I will ever have to children, not that I can't physically have them but my husband doesn't want them. They are more then just "dogs" to me, though I do treat them like dogs not little humans.

I hate when people call me Arexa's mom, I am not a mom to anyone and especially not to my dog lol Dogs are pets and companions, not children.

As far as cleanliness goes I hate anyting on the floor or furniture... and as you know GSD's shed a lot so if you have a lots of dogs I would assume you clean most of your day in order to keep the house clean. I hate mess,can't stand it So 2 dogs would be a max for me

right now I have 3 dogs (1 gsd/2aussies) , 4 indoor cats, 9 chickens and some fish

At one point I had 4 gsd's, (no human kids), some would ask 'how can you handle all that?" it was actually not a problem, they all lived in the house, my house was clean, I was not cleaning 24/7 , they all ate good food/ did different things with different dogs..Sure I had some high vet bills at times, and most likely would be a monetarily rich person at this point if I didn't have a bunch of animals..But I would have missed out on some of the best memories of my life

The aussies are senior dogs, and some day they won't be here any more. I'm not a spring chicken but I'm not a "senior" myself yet. While I most likely won't have 3 dogs after these, I will always have atleast two and there will always be a german shepherd here..

I think it comes down to time and money... time to train and socialize... money for any unforeseen emergency... if you get a contagious illness requiring a vet visit and meds for each dog,, it can get real expensive. We have four... and to be honest, it makes everything a bit harder. I have to find time to get with each dog on an individual basis for training. We had a bout of kennel cough that cost a few dimes. I am actually a bit fearful of something more serious costing a lot more money. All dogs behave better alone than in packs. My wife complains constantly about hair and "dog smell"
It definitely adds stress to the family.... but we love them with all our hearts.

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